Volume 1 Tigers in Southeast Asia Chapter 78 Copper Mine Exhaustion
Lin Fei was startled and asked hurriedly: "What happened?"
Ling Xue whispered, "There's no time to talk so much, hurry up and follow me, I have something important to tell you."
Although Lin Fei really wanted to know what Ling Xue wanted to say to him, he thought about the fact that he was now the emperor of the Huaxia Empire and had just returned from a military campaign. Facing so many welcoming people, he had to tell everyone the result of the campaign. How could he just leave without saying a word?
Lin Fei gently pushed Ling Xue's hand. Ling Xue's hand was very small, and it was difficult for her to hold onto Lin Fei's thick arm. After Lin Fei pushed her, her hand slipped off his arm. Lin Fei said softly, "Xue'er, wait a moment. I want to talk to everyone before we leave."
Ling Xue said "Oh" expressionlessly and walked a few steps into the crowd. Lin Fei turned around and smiled at everyone, "Everyone please be quiet. I will now tell you the results of our expedition!"
Everyone fell silent, and Lin Fei said loudly: "In this battle, we have sunk six Spanish warships, eliminating the threat of the Spanish navy to us. We can attack Mindanao with confidence!"
Everyone cheered, and Lin Fei continued, "Everyone go back, our soldiers are very tired, let them rest, and we will come back for the celebration banquet tonight."
After hearing Lin Fei's words, the crowd slowly dispersed, and the sailors also returned to the camp to rest. Lin Fei looked at the crowd, wanting to find Ling Xue to ask something, but where was Ling Xue?
Lin Fei was very confused and wondered where Xue'er had gone. What happened to her? While Lin Fei was thinking, Chen Jingui suddenly came over with a smile and said to Lin Fei, "City Lord, you are finally back. I have been waiting for you for so long."
Lin Fei had no choice but to put Ling Xue's matter aside for now and asked with a smile: "What are you waiting for me to do?"
Chen Jingui smiled and said, "Come with me quickly. I have something important to show you."
Lin Fei thought to himself, today Ling Xue wants to tell me something, Chen Jingui wants to show me something, what's going on? Lin Fei agreed and followed Chen Jingui. In a short time, he arrived at his residence. This was originally the residence of the Karakatu tribe leader. Lin Fei used this place as the office for himself and the main departments of the Huaxia Empire.
Lin Fei saw a group of craftsmen busy inside and outside the mansion, with wood, bricks, and sand piled all over the ground, so he asked, "What are they doing?"
Chen Jingui smiled and said, "You are the emperor of the Huaxia Empire. How can you live without a palace? They are building a palace for you!"
Lin Fei's face changed immediately after hearing this, and he said sternly, "Ridiculous! Who told you to do this?"
Chen Jingui was startled and said in a trembling voice: "What? Are you unhappy?"
Lin Fei said: "Didn't I say that departments are not allowed to build new offices?"
Chen Jingui asked tentatively, "The imperial palace shouldn't be considered an office space, right?"
Lin Fei sighed and said, "Old Chen, you are also Chinese and have been doing business for many years. You know a lot about officialdom and business. Don't you understand the principle that 'what the superior likes, the subordinates will do even more'? If I take the lead in building a palace for the sake of enjoyment, the people below will definitely try their best to do these things, so I can't do these things, do you understand?"
Chen Jingui nodded and said, "Then I'll have someone take all these things away, okay?"
Lin Fei said "OK", entered the house, and casually said to Chen Jingui: "Go and call Ling Xue for me."
Chen Jingui agreed with a smile, turned around and left. He brought Ling Xue back in no time and said to Lin Fei with a smile, "City Lord, I have brought her here. You guys can chat slowly."
Chen Jingui walked to the door and reached out to close it. Ling Xue turned around and said coldly, "Why are you closing the door in broad daylight?"
Chen Jingui could tell Ling Xue's tone was wrong, and was stunned. His hand that was closing the door stopped in mid-air. He looked at Ling Xue, then at Lin Fei, smiled awkwardly, and turned away. Ling Xue turned around and walked closer to Lin Fei, bowed deeply, and said coldly: "Ling Xue pays respect to His Majesty the Emperor."
When Lin Fei saw that there was no smile on Ling Xue's face, he remembered that she had been angry with him for a long time because of a word he said. His heart was beating fast, wondering how .
Lin Fei stood up with a smile, moved a chair to her side, and said with a smile: "Which bad guy messed with my Miss Ling?"
Ling Xue ignored Lin Fei's joke and did not sit down. She said directly: "Our copper ore is almost exhausted!"
Hearing this, Lin Fei took a step back and said in surprise: "What did you say?"
Ling Xue raised her voice and said, "Our copper ore is almost exhausted!"
Lin Fei only felt a "boom" in his head. The importance of copper ore is self-evident. The bullets and artillery shells of the Huaxia Empire must be made of copper. In the future, the wires of the electric power industry will also be made of copper. Without copper ore, the Huaxia Empire will be half dead!
Lin Fei asked hurriedly: "How come it's all dug up?"
Ling Xue said, "What's so strange about that? There's not much copper ore in the mountains to begin with, and recently they're being used to make artillery shells and bullets. It would be strange if they didn't dig it all up."
Lin Fei also calmed down and asked, "Has Master Guan found any new mineral sources?"
Ling Xue said: "Master Guan said there is a copper mine near Butuan City in Mindanao."
Lin Fei smiled and said, "Wutuan City? Why is it there?"
Ling Xue asked, "What happened to Butuan City?"
Lin Fei took out a map from the cabinet. He had robbed this map from the plantation on Batan Island. Lin Fei spread the map out on the table, pointed at it and said, "Butuan City is one of the three major Spanish strongholds in Mindanao. It is the closest to the Surigao region. If I want to conquer Mindanao Island, I have to attack Butuan City first!"
Ling Xue's expression darkened, and she said, "But Master Guan also said that there are many Spanish troops in Butuan City, and they are very powerful..."
Lin Fei smiled and said, "Isn't it just the Spanish army? No matter how powerful they are, they can't be stronger than my army! I will lead my troops to destroy them."
Ling Xue showed sadness on her face and said, "Why do we have to fight again? What if you get hurt..." Ling Xue suddenly frowned, turned her head and said to herself, "What does your injury have to do with me?", then turned and left.
Lin Fei reached out and grabbed her wrist. Ling Xue paused, but she did not shake off Lin Fei's hand, nor did she turn around to look at Lin Fei. Lin Fei smiled and asked, "Xue'er, why are you like this again? How did I offend you?"
Ling Xue turned around, looked up at Lin Fei, and moved her pink lips twice before she said aggrievedly: "You pushed my hand away in front of so many people today. How would others look at me? How embarrassing!"
Lin Fei burst out laughing and said, "Is that why you're angry?"
Ling Xue raised her eyebrows and said, "You're still laughing!"
Lin Fei thought that Ling Xue 's little thoughts were really interesting. She got angry over such a trivial matter. She was no different from the girls in my era. More than a hundred years had passed, and they hadn't changed at all. Lin Fei laughed out loud as he thought about it. Ling Xue said in a delicate voice, "You embarrassed me. You have to compensate me!"
Lin Fei smiled and asked, "How do you want me to compensate you?"
A blush appeared on Ling Xue's cheeks, and she asked in a low voice: "Why can Sister Meixiang call you Lin Feijun? Why don't others call you that?"
Lin Fei smiled and said, "That's her habit. Others don't have this habit."
Ling Xue rushed to say: "I also want to have a name for you. Only I can call you by this name, no one else can."
Lin Fei smiled again and said, "Okay, okay, what do you want to call me?"
Ling Xue lowered her head and said softly, "I...I want to call you 'City Lord Brother', but...can I? This is your way of compensating me, you...can't refuse."
Lin Fei smiled and said, "Of course you can. Why not? Just call me that from now on."
Ling Xue nodded, turned around and ran away. Lin Fei looked at her back, and a special sweetness surged in his heart. At this moment, Chen Jingui's voice suddenly came from the door: "City Lord, can I come in?"
Lin Fei smiled and said, "Why are you here again? Come in, what's going on?"
Chen Jingui stepped in and said with a grin, "What a natural beauty!"
Lin Fei didn't understand what Chen Jingui meant, and asked suspiciously: "Who are you talking about? Xue'er?"
Chen Jingui smiled and nodded. Lin Fei said with a smile: "Xue'er is very beautiful, but the term 'natural beauty' is not quite appropriate to describe her, right?"
Chen Jingui smiled and said, "Why not? I was halfway there when I remembered that I had work to report to you, so I came back. When I came back, I heard you asking her why she was angry. I heard everything you said afterwards. Did you think of the deeper meaning of her anger?"
Lin Fei was confused and said, "It's just a little girl's little thoughts. What deep meaning can it have?"
Chen Jingui's face was full of evil smiles for a while, and he said, "She deliberately finds small things to get angry, and then asks you to coax her. She will be happy after you coax her a little. This is a way to attract your attention and let you pamper her. This is what all beauties do. I heard that there is a beauty in Manila who costs 1,000 pesos a night. She is the best at this. All the rich businessmen are around her..."
When Lin Fei heard Chen Jingui compare Ling Xue to a prostitute, he coughed lightly and said, "Okay, okay, let's talk about serious matters. What do you want to report?"
Chen Jingui said: "It's still about weapons production. According to your previous request, the factory stopped production after producing 1,500 automatic rifles and switched to producing bullets and grenades. Now the arsenal has produced 3,000 rounds of bullets for each rifle and 100 grenades for each soldier."
Lin Fei thought for a moment and asked, "Can the various resource reserves keep up?"
Chen Jingui frowned and said, "There is plenty of saltpeter, but there is very little cotton left."
Lin Fei said: "Then let's stop the production of nitrocellulose first. We are about to attack Mindanao. If we take down the cotton plantations on the island, we will have enough nitrocellulose raw materials."
